Wichita eagle., 1887-06-24
Guilty. gaele
EASY THING TO ENLIST.
A SCENE OR TWO FROM NEW YORK
RECRUITING STATIONS.
EnlistjuS In the Army Much More Eas-
lily Accomplished Than Undone-A
Lovelorn Young Mans Despair-Why
Hen Enlist-The Result.

lily Accomplished Than UndoDe-A
Love1orn Young Mans Despair-Why
Hen Enlist-The Result.
A little incident drew attention the other
day to the recruiting stations where free men
are turned into soldiers. Once the word is
spoken the man is bound for five years.
very slave to his work Without influence,
all heaven is powerless to loosen his bonds.
Sometimes the word is spoken hastily; here
and there one resigns himself to this slavery
in q moment of dependency, and again a
man takes upon himself the burden in a fit
Of pique. 1t is somewhat like committing
suicide. After the deed you may want to
take it all back
1t was so with the young man last week
whose father appealed tearfully for the re-
lease OF the lad. The boy was just Of age,
and the illusions of affection and despair
seemed real to him. His story was simple as
st was commonplace. There was somebody
young woman, of course-who, he said,
was all the world to him. He told her So.
He told her so out in the park, with the after
noon sun glintIng through the tender young
leaves. He did not remember just what she
said, but it seemed horribly cruel. 1t shut
out the sunlight What was the use Of liv-
ing with the daylight blotted out foreverl He
would go off somewhere and she should never
hear his name again. He would enlist. And
IN the name of love he did.
The recruiting officer was glad to snap up a
man in such fine physical condition. The
youth found enlisting the easiest thing in the
world. He answered all the questions with
out break. No, he had never been arrested;
no, he was not married, and volunteered
somewhat bitterly the unnecessary informa-
ton that he never intended to be- Juss a
little scratch Of the pen and his name was
signed to the oath of allegiance 1t was his
last free act. It was not quite ten minutes
from the time he first entered the office Yet
1T was long enough to swear himself into five
years OF servitude. He no longer had any
thing TO say as to his choice Of work, his
hours or place of residence He was an TN
important part of a great machine, whose
duty was TO obey without knowing why he
obeyed
Three days of it were enough to make him
sick of his bargain. Love did not seem such
an all important fact after all. He began to
realize what he had heard somewhere that
the two worst maladies which aSsail man
love and seasickneSs-are the most short lived
It,might appear very heroic and all that to 20
off and be n soldier bold, but it was deuced
uncomfortable. They were going to ship him
out to jefferson barracks in Missouri. He
hated Missouri. He hated being everybody 8
servant. They kept him in a stuffy little
room at No. Ia Hudson street with lot of
men utterly uncongenial. 1t was too much.
HEROES were all right and SO was love, but q
good dinner once more would outweigh both.
He wrote to his father begging him to see the
district congressman and secure a release
The father appealed to his congressman and
to an influential friend The papers luckily
had not yet been sent to Washington. That
is how the story is told.
A few years ago a son of rich merchant
enlisted in somewhat the same hurried way.
He stuck it out though, was put in a cavalry
regiment and afterwards got an officers COM
mission through influence brought to bear in
the right direction. But most Of the men
who enlist thus hastily usually desert, run
ming the risk Of two years imprisonment.
DURING PEACE TIMES.
A visitor at the recruiting stations saw q
good deal of this class of men who enlist dur
ing peace times the past week. They are q
peculiar class. There are four enlisting sta
tons in town. A especial effort is being
made to get colored soldiers so as to complete
a regiment now forming out west. But
colored men, somehow, do not banker after
the work of a soldiers life, much as they like
the tinsel and brass buttons of the job. Be-
sides, there is certain AmeIicanisn in the
negro that makes him a poor peace soldier
English, Irish and Germans make up the bulk
of tho enlisted men. The few Americans
who sign papers are usually OF Irish or Ger
man extraction Americans, young heuten-
ant said, are too independent to make good
soldiers except when they are kept busy
fighting or marching. The strict discipline
of camp life gals them, and its lazneSS brings
out all their worst qualities. The American
born citizen cannot be lazy and good at the
same time. He inheritS too much high pres
cure activity, that is bound to find vent
somewhere.
The early spring always sees the increase Of
enlistnentS. Laborers, mechanics and poor
fellows out of work are the appicants-es-
pecially the latter class They have been
trying hard all winter to get regular employ
ment, and, finally disguised with their non
success, they turn to the army as a last resort
So, too, the late emigrant, unable TO find the
streets, turns to the government and the
army for support. Here and there domestic
difficulties drive a man to it. A shrewish
wife sends many good man and true from
shouldering pick to shouilering a musket.
Laziness and general shlftleSsnesS help little
1t seems an easy way to keep life going to
give ones self up to the government in return
for food, clothing and a bed. Nearly all bar
racks have fair libraries, and the willing SOL
der can always get documentary education
from camp school. As far Is physical COM
fort goes 4 soldier is perhaps better OFF than
the average laborer, though he cannot
choose his work or have homo Of his own.
He must herd with Others. But once a SOL
der always soldier. Having served for five
years the discharged man nearly always re-
eniists. lie is untitled for anything elsa
New York World.
Nea-l-- Fremont and lincoln in 1896